


Don't Leave Me

by dancergrl1



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mentions WD, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 05:04:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13451133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancergrl1/pseuds/dancergrl1
Summary: “We...we were in the tent, and you…” she stopped to gather herself “you were saying...horrid things, and I couldn’t stop you from walking away and i couldn’t yell after you or go after you or…”--Anne wakes up from a nightmare and Philip is there like always.FIrst work, please give feedback!





	Don't Leave Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so this is my first work on the Archive and I'm really excited. Please leave feedback! Enjoy!

_“How could i love someone who’d like you?!” He spat, seething and laughing in equal measure._

_He turned on his heel and walked away._

_She watched him go, rooted to the spot. She tried to scream his name, beg him to come back, but the words were stuck in her, they wouldn’t come out. The tears were streaming down her face, and she was trying to run after him. The words finally came._

_“_ _Philip, no, please! Don’t go! Don’t leave me, please!”_

***

Philip woke to Anne thrashing in bed, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t talk about her history, but the nightmares came more often than they wished. He did his best to comfort her while she was asleep, but most nights he had to wake her up. It was the only tried and true way to snap her out of it, so he began the routine of trying to wake her up.

“No, please! Don’t go!”

Philip could barely make out the mumbling she had going, but those words stood out clearly. He didn’t know what she was dreaming about, but could garner a pretty decent guess. She’d confided in him, after months of knowing him, that she was waiting for him to get bored of this and leave. He was pretty sure she still was. That was a level of trust he’d yet to build. The only person she trusted not to leave her was WD. They were each other’s constant.

“Anne, it’s just a dream. I’m here, i promise. I always will be.” He continued this strain of sweet nothings until she woke up with a gasp and a strangled cry. As always, his first step was to pull her into his arms.

She pushed him away.

His heart breaking, he gave her space. Since he could only guess at what her nightmares were, he often let her work it out that it was a dream. There was only so much he could do.

Opening her eyes, she looked through him. As her eyes focused, she let out a gulping sob and launched herself into his arms. He began trying to calm her down, knowing that once she was worked into a state it would take a while to wind back down. He held her tightly, whispering a stream of consciousness, the show, the circus, their future, the theatre, really whatever came to mind.

Eventually, there was just the occasional hiccup coming from his girl, and he whispered. “Want to talk about it?” He could see her thinking about her answer, considering how it would affect them.

In an effort to stop the train of thought, he spoke again quietly. “Please, let me help. It won’t make me stop loving you.”

She looked up at him, looking young and vulnerable. “Not really.”

Philip accepted her answer, though he didn’t necessarily like it. Anne tried to forget about her past, and philip respected that. He just wished, sometimes, that she would let him in. Let him take some of her pain.

The couple laid back down together, Anne pressing herself against Philip as tightly as possible. Philip draped an arm over her waist, reminding her he was here, he was present, and he wasn’t leaving. Only then did she begin to talk, stubbornly keeping her face turned away.

“We...we were in the tent, and you…” she stopped to gather herself “you were saying...horrid things, and I couldn’t stop you from walking away and i couldn’t yell after you or go after you or…” Anne is hyperventilating and sobbing. Philip turned her towards him and held her tightly, letting her ride it out in his arms. When she quieted, he whispered “I’m not going to leave you, Anne Wheeler. You are my sun, moon, and stars, and i would be lost without you, without the circus, without everyone around us. I love you, Anne Wheeler. I’ll never stop loving you.”

He stayed awake for a long while after that, listening to her breathe evenly, deeply asleep.

He said it again, even though she was sleeping. “I love you, Anne.”


End file.
